Inferior
by blackballet
Summary: My mother was beautiful, and then she was dead. Then she was an inferius. There was a difference between her and I, you see. I skipped the beautiful part.
1. Introductions

_"Come over here Char," the little red head yelled, skipping through the tall grass on the plateau. The dark haired one looked over, and her short hair bounced around her ears. The first little one joined a group of three or four other kids. _  
_"Charlotte! Come on! We need another player!" _  
_"Alright, alright," she said, her thin legs working hard to make it up the hill to the group of girls. _  
_"Okay, girls, here's how you play," said another. She was one of the older girls in the group. Charlotte finally squeezed into the group between her small friend and the tall girl. _  
_"We are going to split up into two groups, and then the seeker, me," she said, pointing to herself, "has to go find you guys. The two people who get found last have to race back to that tree," she said, pointing to a large oak over the hill. "Then the person who gets to the tree the last loses," she finished, menacingly. _  
_"Are you ready Char," the little one asked, grabbing Charlotte's hand. She nodded enthusiastically back. _  
_"On your mark, get set, go!" The girls ran off as fast as they could, and the two nameless girls ran in one direction, Charlotte and her friend in the other. _  
_Charlotte was out of breath by the time the two ran about twenty feet, and made her friend stop. They sat in the grass for a couple minutes, small enough to be hidden by it. All of a sudden they heard laughter coming from where they started and Charlotte peeked her head up from the ground. The tall girl had already found the other two. Charlotte sunk back down, and glanced at her friend for a minute. They both smirked knowingly, but her friend bolted first, and Charlotte got up after her. They were both running, spirits high, but Charlotte was losing. And Charlotte didn't like to lose. She concentrated her hardest on making it to that tree first. She would not lose! She blinked back the tears from the harsh wind in her eyes, and all of a sudden she was at the tree. She saw her friend running in the distance, and the three other girls standing next to her in horror._

I sat up quickly, and drew in a breath like I always did after waking up from a dream like that. I felt my heartbeat slow down, and pushed my now long hair away from my face. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was the first day I found out I was even a witch. I had my first apparition at seven, no splinching. I was the girl Charlotte, Charlotte Malkin. I pushed the blankets off of my bed, not quite to the floor, though. Dad wouldn't appreciate that. I've heard my mum wouldn't have appreciated that either, but I'll never really know. See, my mother was a muggle, so is dad; but my mum was technically dead when she had me. Yep, an inferius, transparent corpse and all.  
The story goes, my mum and dad met in London, just a couple of regular muggles living their daily lives when they met in a tea room on a Sunday. Seven months later, boom. They're engaged. They got married, honeymooned, all that jazz, and my mother was pregnant with me within four months. Then, when she had just gone into the eighth month, she was murdered. Nothing was damaged, no body parts gone or broken. It appeared as if she had a heart attack, but it wasn't. Voldemort had killed my mother with the killing curse when she was on her way to the hospital for a check up. That's what my dad told me anyway. I'm sure Dumbledore had explained it to me in much greater detail, but to tell you the truth, I'm not all that bothered by it. Naturally, no one knows besides myself, Dumbledore, and most of my professors. I couldn't let anyone know, now could I? Imagine how that would be. Everyone staring, running away from me, laughing, pointing, taking their wands out, it would be absolutely ridiculous. I wasn't really in danger of anything, besides Voldemort controlling part of me. The thing is, he doesn't even know about me. Again, that's just what my dad said. Most of this is mainly guess work, because no one was there except my mother, and she's still "dead". It's impossible to kill an inferius, so I don't really know what that means for me in the long run yet.  
"Charlotte, come down! We have to get to the station at a quarter to eleven."  
"I know dad," I called back. Honestly, six years of doing this and you'd think he'd trust me. But, regardless of what I ever have or will say, he is the best man I've ever met. Who else would keep and raise someone who was half dead? He would. I closed my trunk and picked up my jumper from the nightstand.  
I walked into the kitchen and saw my dad sitting with a newspaper and a mug of coffee, still steaming.  
"Hey dad?" He looked up at me from behind his paper. "Could you kill the fire?" He nodded and blew out the small candle in the middle of the table. I also had an irrational fear of fire, something I picked up from the inferius. I joined my father, who had lay out a plate with eggs and a few pieces of bacon on it. My favorite smell. See, best dad ever. I couldn't actually eat, or drink anything. I mean, I could, and nothing would happen, but it just didn't fill me up. Nothing filled me up.  
"So girly, what are you taking this year?" I loved when he took an interest in my schoolwork, even though he had no idea what it was.  
"N.E.W.T Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Alchemy, Ghoul Studies, and Muggle Studies."  
"No Herbology this year," he asked, taking another sip of his coffee.  
"No, I don't really have time for that. It was either that or Muggle Studies, and you know how I love that class." He smiled at that. He always felt proud that I tried to stay in touch with my muggle side.  
"What about Care of Magical Creatures?" I laughed at that.  
"What are you trying to kill me dad! I'm already taking the maximum class allowance. I can't even go to Ghoul Studies and Alchemy everyday. It switches on and off." At this his smile faded a little. That was the one thing he and I never really saw eye to eye on. He had always pushed me to forget about my non-human side.  
"Why don't you just drop one of them then?" I rolled my eyes at his not-so-subtle ploy to get me to drop Ghoul Studies.  
"Drop it dad," I responded, and he understood what I meant. That's what I love about smart people. They always understand what you're talking about.  
"Well," he said, folding the newspaper, "We better go." I took his lead and went upstairs to get my things.  
My room was so pretty and pale. I love the light lavender color of my walls, and even the small butterfly trim in the corners. I always missed it when I was at Hogwarts. In previous years, I would rush to the dormitory and change the deep blues and bronzes to light purple and cream, but the other girls insisted I change it back. I guess I fit in pretty well with the other Ravenclaws. We weren't really into the whole team concept, so I guess that's why we don't consistently win in Quidditch. I'm hoping I have time to play this year, as it's my last, but I do have an awful lot on my plate. I grabbed my wand and, taking one last look at the room, began to levitate my trunk down the stairs, kicking the door shut with my foot. My trunk landed at the bottom of the stairs with a thud, and I heard my dad cleaning up the kitchen. I looked at the last picture on the bottom of the stairs, and the corner of my mouth turned up slightly. The picture was of Lily and I, when we were seven. It was actually that summer that we both found out we were witches. She found out just after I apparated to the tree that day. I felt bad that we weren't really friends anymore, but the houses separated us. I still liked her, and we spoke civilly, but it wasn't the same. My head tilted up a couple of degrees, and I saw a picture of my mother. She was so pretty in that picture. She was a lot darker than I was. She had opaque, olive skin, and dark, curly hair. Her lips were full and her teeth were white. I had relatively straight hair, and I still liked it, but I had such fair skin. It was completely white and stretched thin over my bones. My eyes weren't brown and rich like her either, they were almost clear. It was like I had a small, light, greenish grey film over glass eyeballs. It was just strange.  
"Charlotte, we have to go," my dad yelled. I rolled my eyes again, and rolled my luggage down the hallway and into the small foyer.  
"Are you ready for this dad?"  
"As ready as I'll ever be," he said, his eyes nervous. I laughed, he was such a scaredy cat, I thought, as we whipped away to platform 9 3/4 for the last time.

* * *

"See dad, it wasn't that bad," I said, while patting him on the back. Granted, his face was a little green, but he'll have the whole taxi ride back to shake it off.  
"I know, dumpling." He straightened the edge of my white shirt, and tugged on my braid.  
"I told you not to call me that, dad," I whined.  
"I told you I didn't care," he whined back, mockingly. "Come here, little one." He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. He kissed me on the head, and I could feel him smiling.  
"Dad, don't cry," I said as I looked up and saw his eyes watering.  
"You're getting so old, Charlotte. One day I'm going to come home, and my little girl won't be waiting there on the couch, writing or reading."  
"I'll be back dad, don't worry. Hell, I don't even want to leave. Who would hire a dead girl?" He held my two cheeks and tilted my head up so I could see his eyes clearly.  
"Listen here, Charlotte. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and anyone would be lucky to have you. Do you understand me?"  
"Yes sir," I said, smiling brightly.  
"Good," he answered. "Now you better get on that train, or it'll take off without you."  
"Never without me," I called back, "I'm the star of the show!" I heard his final laugh I went through to the other side, and I smiled along with him. This was going to be a good year.

Charlotte POV  
My smile faded as I saw the train. It was beautiful, but I knew what was on it. Nothing. Nothing for me, anyway. I never really made friends easily. It was hard for me, because I kind of tend to think I'm better than a lot of people. It's obviously not this pureblood thing everyone's crazy about, it's just I'm a lot smarter than most people. Maybe that's why Lily and I were quick friends when we were younger. She was the only one I've met that could really keep up with me. I boarded the train, and walked down to the end of the train where no one usually sat. The Ravenclaws are very smart, don't get me wrong, but they're mostly just crazy geniuses. Like Xenophilius Lovegood. I could see his crazy smart kind of attitude, but I just couldn't get into a conversation with someone like that. Then there's mostly the Ravenclaw Cliques. It's the nerds: those who do nothing but study. The Slytherclaws: Those who could actually be in Slytherin, but were smart enough to be put into Ravenclaw. The partiers: Those who had potential when they were young, but kind of turned awry around third year. And the pretty girls: Mostly just girls who knew what they had and used it to get what they wanted. I put my trunk down and struggled to open the rusty door to the compartment with both hands. It finally squeaked open, and I squeezed in the small opening, throwing my bag in after. It was better. This way, no one asked about my family life. No one cared I was half dead, and I was fine with that. I was taking my hair out of this braid, it made me look like a two year old. Or at least I was about to when I turned around and screamed my bloody head off.  
"Oh Merlin! I'm so sorry I had no idea someone was in here! I'll leave, I'm sorry," I said. The boy didn't say anything at first, but when I went to actually get my suitcase, he responded.  
"You don't have to leave, you know," he said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.  
"Oh! Alright, that's a nice change of pace, I guess," I mumbled at the end.  
"Well, my name is Charlotte Malkin," I said, extending my hand for a handshake.  
"Peter Pettigrew," he answered, nodding his head in my direction.  
"Oh! I've heard of you. You're one of those Mara-" I stopped speaking when he began to smirk cockily. I suppose they thrived on recognition. Merlin, that's gross.  
"Well, what are your counterparts up to?" He took his legs down from the opposing bench and sat up properly.  
"Would you believe me if I told you I didn't know?" I smiled at this. He knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the prank. It's funny, I'd always heard he was the dumb one. I assume he was just good at following orders.  
"That question leads me to believe that there is something to know. So no," I said, crossing my arms. "I wouldn't believe you." He smiled a crooked kind of smile. It was endearing, like a little boy the first time he ate a sundae all by himself. My smile joined, and I feared an awkward silence to follow, but I was saved by a loud ruckus coming from outside the compartment.  
"Pete, open up," someone yelled from outside, a bright purple flash following the exclamation. The boy got up, taller than I expected, and wrenched open the door, letting three other boys file in. The boy I knew as Remus Lupin flicked the door shut with his wand, and stood in the doorway, as there was no where else to be.  
"Are you going to introduce us Pete," Sirius Black asked. He was suddenly overshadowed by the larger personalities in the compartment, and his voice seemed stuck in his throat.  
"Alright, I guess not. I'm Sirius Black," he said, extending a hand covered in soot. I smiled back, and took a handkerchief out of my pocket.  
"Charlotte Malkin," I answered, cleaning his dirty hand before properly shaking it.  
"Let me guess," he said lazily. "Ravenclaw?" He sat where I was, clearly having no respect for me or a social code.  
"That would be correct," I answered, stepping to the side to face him. Maybe he could pick up something about manners from this. He did not answer me, merely interested in his dirty shoes.  
"Is there something wrong with having a conversation," I inquired, becoming increasingly infuriated by his complete ignorance towards etiquette.  
"Not usually. It's not my fault you bore people into silence," he answered, snickering childishly.  
"Did your parents teach you no manners?" The static in the room thickened as I mentioned his parents.  
"I don't think you'd want to see the manners my parents taught me," he answered, clearly shaken. I smiled serenely. He thought he'd won by showing emotion? Big mistake, I had no weaknesses or emotion.  
"Better than none." I felt the glares of the other boys come into play, and I was certain that I had control.  
"I think you should go," Remus said, finally speaking up.  
"No," Sirius said. "I think you should tell us about your parents, Malkin." I've faced this topic before. I knew how I could maneuver around my mother.  
"My father's name is Alfred, my mother's Amelia. They are both 44, and my father works in accounting."  
"What does your mother do for a living?" His demeanor confused me. I was usually able to read people easily, know what they were thinking. Is there a possibility he already knew about my mother? Otherwise, he wouldn't be questioning about her directly. Alright, I admit, I took a few psychology classes over the summer.  
"She left us when I was seven." It was an easy enough lie. No one ever saw her, but my father had told me enough so that I would be able to talk about her minimally.  
"Oh, poor you," he said. Gryffindor's are absolutely hilarious. He'd actually thought he got to me. This was more fun than I had anticipated.  
"I'm completely fine. As a matter of fact, I don't feel an absence of my mother." But I knew, see. I knew how to manipulate my voice in a way that made others crumble.  
"Let's talk about your family, Black," I said maliciously, tugging on my braid as my father had.  
"Now let me see, do all of succumb so easily to temptation, or is that just the Death Eater half?" James pushed Sirius back as he tried to lunge at me. My face held a small smile. The one where it was hard to discern if I was being sincere or not.  
"You should leave now, Charlotte. We've tried to be polite, but this could get dangerous." Remus looked genuinely concerned for his friends welfare.  
"Who died and made you a bitch," Sirius spat back at me, his bright eyes burning into my dull ones. Now why couldn't I have eyes like that? Wait, not the issue right now.  
God, how I wished I could answer my mother. It would've been so great, to see his stupid face scrunch up and say, 'sorry, I didn't know.' Even better, what if I responded, 'Me.' That would be a cinch and I would declare myself better than Sirius Black in every way. Okay, so maybe I had a small competition issue.  
"That's right. No one has or would ever die for you, so don't act like you know what real pain is," he said. My smile stayed, because he was completely oblivious to who I actually was. I was so used to hiding what I was, it was easy by now.  
"You want someone to die for you? Is that what you strive for, Sirius? That sounds really brave. You get the gold medal for having someone else die for you Sirius. Really, truly, I bow down to you. You have mastered the art of living. If only I could do that," I answered, quite sarcastically. The end was the only part that really rang true, I guess. I can't master the art of living, and I never will. I can't eat, or drink, or even really feel. I could do all those things, but nothing satisfied me. Of course, there are strong feelings, like hate and love, but they were only glimpses, I thought, as I walked out of the compartment and searched for another one, empty this time. Just like me, eternally empty.


	2. Investigations

Sirius POV  
I was fuming. Who did she think she was, talking to me, us, like that?  
"So who is that chick anyway Remus," I asked, still shaking with anger. Remus pulled out a large book with an M surrounded by their four names inscribed on the cover. He flipped open to the first page, and found the page number that corresponded with the last name's starting with M. It was a roll book for Hogwarts, with every single student and staff member in it.  
"Charlotte Malkin," he said scrolling down the page of M's.  
"She's a Ravenclaw, you were right about that, and she's played on the house Quidditch team as a beater for three years. She received an Outstanding score on every O.W.L in fifth year." I scoffed at this. So at least I was right about her. She was a prissy little bitch with a smart mouth. I looked over Moony's shoulder, who had taken a seat next to me, and saw her picture scowling up at us.  
"What about her family connections? Friends, anything," I asked. He looked down at the rest of the page until he hit the next name.  
"Nope, that's about it. She's muggleborn, so no family. There's no other relations on here. I'm pretty sure we're almost the first people she's had a full fledged conversation with," he answered.  
"If you can call that a conversation," I snarled back.  
"Wait, I think I know her," James said, quite out of the blue.  
"I heard Lily talking about an old friend she had when she was young. Charlotte something. Maybe that's the same girl. I doubt it, though. Lily said the girl apparated when she was seven."  
"No, no I think that's right James," Peter said. We all looked at him strangely. He didn't contribute that often. He sorted through his deck of Chocolate Frog cards, and stopped on one of a young girl with short hair.  
"This is it," he said, passing the card to me. "Charlotte Malkin, age seventeen, youngest witch or wizard to ever apparate at age seven." Even her young face was thin and pale. It was like she'd never heard of the word happy.  
"Damn it," I said, crumpling the card in my fist. Peter grabbed it from me, and desperately tried to flatten it out.  
"She already had a Chocolate Frog card when she was seven? Freaking Ravenclaw's."  
"Oh calm down, Padfoot," Remus said. "It's not like she was rubbing that in your face or anything."  
"Did anyone else hear her insulting me? Or were the rest of you bloody deaf for those couple minutes?" I was kind of agitated. Why weren't they as distraught as I was?  
"No offense mate, but we're not exactly model students, if you know what I mean."  
"Who's side are you on, anyway Remus," I asked accusingly.  
"I'm on nobody's side, Pads. I'm just saying you kind of encouraged it."  
"I guess you're right, Moon. I mean, when aren't you." He snickered, and we dropped the subject. He went straight back to looking at his book, and I went back to eating Peter's Chocolate Frog's.

Charlotte POV  
I sat down in the only empty compartment I could find, rather tired. It was pointless, really. We would be at Hogwarts in about thirty minutes, and I spent the majority of my ride finding somewhere to sit. I finally had the chance to take out my hair, and my hair was in soft waves now. That made me smile. My straight hair was so boring.  
I took out the little notebook that I kept, and flipped through to the B's. There it was Black, Sirius. I jotted down some notes, like arrogant ass, positively gorgeous, and not worth my time. I enchanted it to have all of the students in my year at Hogwarts with their own page. I hadn't taken much interest in anyone in lower years, but if I found anyone particularly interesting, I would make a new page for them in my book.  
It wasn't as creepy as it sounded, I swear. I mostly just liked to observe people and their relationships. For instance, I already had Marauder, and prankster written down next to Sirius Black's name. I don't know why I wrote both down, because they were basically synonyms. I didn't ever erase anything I wrote down, though. I liked to go through things and remember how childish I'd been, or remember how I felt about someone at a certain point. It gave me something to do at lunch, if I'd already visited the library that day. Sometimes I would sit with some other Ravenclaw's in my year, but I was constantly bored by their conversations. As a matter of fact, I would rather banter with Black all day than converse with the Ravenclaw's about exam scores. That's how little I felt for the members of my house. At least he could provide me with some joy. The Ravenclaw's mostly just ignored me. So it was a mutual feeling. I didn't care for them, and they were not particularly fond of me.  
I looked up from my book and shut it with a snap when I heard a quiet knock on the door. I usually kept the shade of the compartment down so no one would bother me.  
"Who is it," I called. Most likely some couple who hadn't seen each other all summer. Believe me, it happens.  
"It's Lily Evans." I smiled when I heard who it was.  
"Come in Lily, it's me, Charlotte." She opened the door and slid it shut quickly. She was rather out of breath as well, I noticed.  
"How was your summer Charlotte," she asked, coming towards me to give a hug. I reciprocated, and she sat down opposite to me.  
"Quite nice actually, no strange weather," I said hesitantly. "Is everything alright, Lily," I asked, referring to her heavy breathing.  
"Yes, I'm actually sort of hiding from someone, if you must know." I pursed my lips and shook my head. I had written down obsessed with Lily Evans next to James Potter in second year.  
"Has Potter already begun this year's chase?" She chuckled quietly, and I smiled with her. Anyone would have to be daft to not see James was madly in love with her.  
"Why not just give him a chance, Lily?" She looked up at me strangely, and her eyes darted to the door.  
"I was under the impression you and the Marauders weren't exactly on good terms, and now you want me to go on a date with him?" I nodded, understanding what had happened.  
"So which one of them got to you?"  
"It was Black, surprisingly," she answered. "It was weird, he doesn't usually speak with me, except to prank. But is it true what he said, Char? Did you talk about his family?" Okay, maybe I wasn't exactly proud of it, but I didn't expect Black to be the tattle tale type.  
"I didn't really mean it, Lily." She smiled pitifully at me. Oh god, I hated that face.  
"I know you didn't, but other people don't. It's your own fault. People would like you if you just got to know them!" And this is another reason why we split apart. Lily was a people person. I was not. She lifted the shade, and with no sign of James, began to open the door to leave the compartment.  
"Hey, do you want to come sit with me? It's just Marlene, Alice and myself," she said, hopefully. I shook my head, maybe a little too quickly. It was for the best, anyway. I knew she didn't really want me there.  
"No, it's fine. The train ride is almost over anyway. Thanks for asking, Lily. Maybe I'll sit with you at the opening feast." We both knew that was almost a completely empty promise, but she took it with a smile, and went back to her friends. Maybe I would sit with them. I would like to sit with someone at the Opening Feast for once.

I sat down at the Gryffindor table with a huff, crossing my arms over my chest. My hair was still dripping wet, and I had to take off my cloak as it was soaked through so badly, I don't even think my body could carry that weight. It seems the four boys I had the pleasure of meeting on the train decided to have their first prank of the year all over me. How they came up with this within the thirty minutes I left their compartment, I'll never know. But I'll never let them get away with it either.  
Lily was patting me on the back, and I could still taste some of the lingering saltwater. They used the water from the lake apparently. I felt something rubbery in my mouth, and pulled out what I hoped would be the last piece of balloon. How could they do something so juvenile? Merlin, they are already on my nerves. See, this is why I don't talk to people.  
"It's fine, Char," Lily reassured me. "No one will ever remember this," she said, as Rita Skeeter snapped a picture of me.  
"Are you really going to make me sit here now, Lily?" I looked at the two girls opposite me, who gave me what seemed like very forced smiles.  
"Yes. Believe me, it will help if we're friends. James won't do anything to me," she whispered quickly to me, as the four approached the bench and sat across from Lily and I, filling in between and around Alice and Marlene.  
"Don't have anything to say, Malkin?" That damn smirk rose to his face and I wanted to rip off his face right there in front of the whole hall.  
"Not to you, Black." Now, don't fret, I would get revenge. But I had to bide my time, wait for their guards to drop.  
"Can't admit that someone finally got you?"  
"I've no trouble admitting that," I answered, looking him straight in the eye, which for some reason seemed to startle him a little. "It's just, the sorting's about to start. I prefer to listen." He rose his eyebrows slightly and nodded silently, turning to face Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the new students.  
As I sat there and listened intently to Dumbledore's speech and the hat's song, my mind began to wander slightly. Alright, so maybe I do know why he was so startled by my eyes. Sometimes they kind of sort of lost all color when I was feeling particularly vengeful. It wasn't my fault, blame the genes. Still, I had to control that better.  
The food popped up on all of the platters that were previously empty, and I could see why Gryffindor's mascot was the lion. They were pretty, what's the word, possessive, about their food. I swear, one third year almost lost an arm over a chicken breast. I waited calmly until everyone else had gotten their food, and I filled my plate just the proper amount. I always ate just the proper amount. It was one more thing I could do to try and be human.  
"So, Charlotte, what classes are you taking this year," Lily asked me. I swallowed the last couple string beans on my plate, and cleared my throat.  
"I'm taking D.A.D.A,Potions, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Alchemy, Ghoul Studies, and Muggle Studies. All N.E.W.T level, except for Ghoul Studies and Alchemy, obviously."  
"That's an awful lot of classes, Char."  
"Well, it is the maximum allowance, but I think it's important," I said smugly. I was proud of all my classes, that's right.  
"It's not like you have anything else to do anyway," Black said quietly. Lily turned to glare at him, as if I didn't hear. Gryffindors were so weird, Merlin.  
"It's alright, Lily. At least I'll actually graduate." He rolled his stupid pretty eyes and turned to Remus, who was deep into a book already.  
"I'm going to go up to my dormitory, Lil," I whispered to her.  
"Are you sure? The girls you were with last year were kind of mean." I rolled my eyes at her, in some sort of weird friendship affection way.  
"I'll be fine, I can take care of myself," I said, fingering my wand.  
"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow for Charms?" I nodded hastily, and gathered my things. As I walked out the front doors with some other lingering students, I smiled a little bit. Maybe it was okay to be friends with Lily again. I mean, not like sleepover-every-night-best-friends-forever, but just like good acquaintances. As long as we stayed away from the Marauders, I'd be fine.


	3. The Benign Probability

So, apparently Rita had gotten a brand new camera over break, one that could store pictures forever. She told me all about it as I was washing up for bed. Forget privacy, Skeeter, who needs it? Emmeline Vance mostly kept to herself, which was nice, but had this obnoxious laugh and used it at every chance she got. I hadn't exactly learned the other girl's name yet, but she was a transfer from Salem in the States, and had a twin in Slytherin. Then there was Emma Vanity, who was pretty much drunk all the time, I concluded, looking at my notes from last year. Her, Skeeter, Vance, and I had been in the same dormitory last year, so it wasn't that bad of a transfer. I just don't like living with people, it was suffocating.  
I walked to bed, which was across from the entrance, and next to the window, just how I liked it. This way, if I ever wanted to go out on the roof in the morning, I would be able to do so without disturbing the others, who would disturb me if they were awake. Sleep was pretty much the same thing as food with me. I could do it, but without it I didn't feel overtly tired or depressed. It took longer for sleep deprivation to hit me than others. I could probably go about three days without sleep and it would just begin to affect me. But, here I was, going to sleep again. Maybe that's why I spent so much time outside, on the roof, playing quidditch, et cetera. I never really got tired, so I was mostly just bored. At least I would have class tomorrow, that was almost always extremely stimulating.

"Open up to page seventy three in your New Theory of Numerology textbooks and read up until page seventy six, and jot down notes. You'll have five minutes to do so, and after that, you'll recite three facts you learned to your partner," Professor Vector announced. "Your time begins now." She tapped the board, and a stop watch appeared in mid air, letting us know the time we had left.  
"Hey," he said, nudging my shoulder."Guess you didn't expect me to be here."  
"No, I didn't, Black. Who knew you took such an interest in Arithmancy," I answered sarcastically. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish the assignment, if you'd do the same," I said, nodding towards his counter-productively closed textbook.  
"My uncle was an Arithmancer."  
"Why are you forcing conversation," I hissed back at him. I'd had Professor Vector for three years, and she was pretty strict with talking students.  
"I owe James, something about Evans liking you, and him being obsessed with Evans. I don't expect you to understand, it's a friend thing," he said cruelly. I ignored his stupid petty jabs, forcing my eyes to read the black font.  
"Of course, I couldn't expect you to possibly concentrate when you've got all this sitting next to you," he said leaning back in his chair. I didn't answer again, but I saw his smirk out of the corner of my eye. I could nearly tear it off right there, but I settled for a sublter method of revenge, I thought as I slipped my foot under the edge of his chair, kicking it forward to make him fall. He fell ridiculously, and two kids beside us snickered. Granted, that was a little out of character for me, but it was such a good opportunity. That's it, I swear, I wouldn't be lowering myself to his standards to have a quick laugh again. I was better than that. I heard the timer and whipped my head up from the book. Even if I was looking at it, I wasn't actually reading. I scanned the page quickly, before realizing I probably had more knowledge in this area than Sirius and the two kids in front us put together. Our books snapped shut with a flick of Vector's wand and she motioned for us to begin.  
"Stephan Edgarda discovered the use of numbers in theology in 1903, the Tales of Beedle the Bard was originally written using numbers, but was switched to English language when it was realized that no one was able to decipher the code, and the properties of seven were discovered by the warlock Merlin but were made famous by Bridget Wenlock during the first Salem Witch Trials in the States after she escaped using a seven lettered curse to free herself from the fire," I rattled off quickly before he could even get a word in.  
"Very good, Miss Malkin! Ten points to Ravenclaw! Do you happen to know the seven lettered curse," she asked. Oh she was cruel, but she was good. Of course I didn't know that! Merlin Charlotte, stupid, stupid, stupid.  
"Expulso," Sirius answered. Of course that's the one answer he knows.  
"Very good as well, mister Black," she said, obviously thoroughly surprised that he answered. "Five points to Gryffindor."  
"How the hell did you know that," I hissed at him after Vector went to seek out other groups.  
"I don't know, Char," he said, mocking the nickname Lily gave me when we were children. "Bridget Wenlock was an old, old relative of mine, you see. We're supposed to learn all about our family culture in my house." Hmmm, that was strange, hearing him mock someone other than me.  
"What's got you in such a good mood?" He was very hostile around me last night. What was the big change all about?  
"I don't know, Char. Maybe I'm just not as much of an old, wrinkly, grumpy soul that you are." Professor Vector announced that class was dismissed, and we gathered our things. We were first to the threshold as we were in the last row, and we kind of got stuck both, trying to exit at the same time. He stepped backward, smiling politely, and let me go through first. I smiled back at him. Maybe we could come to an understanding that we were both just high-tempered, loose tongued, sarcastics and become allies. That was a nice thought. I enjoyed the fantasy to the fullest right before I was doused in a rainbow of acrylic paint. The first thing I saw when I wiped my eyes clear, was the backside of Sirius Black, running as fast as he possibly could. And oh, he was right to run. Yes he was.  
Sirius POV  
"You shouldn't have done that, man," Remus said as I washed some of the specks of paint that got on my robes off in the prefects third floor bathroom. He was leaning on the radiator, my key to get into the bathroom.  
"You know she deserved it, Moony," I said, my voice a little less jaded now that I had gotten my frustrations out.  
"Yeah, she did deserve it. You know, the first prank, the one we planned," he said, emphasizing the word planned. He was such a damn killjoy sometimes.  
"You know Vector's crazy sometimes. If you got caught, you would've had detention for a month."  
"Yeah, mate," I said, "But I didn't get caught, did I," I asked, gesturing to my free, punishless state.  
"Don't even say it," I interrupted, as he started to speak. "Malkin's not going to tell, she's too damn proud. Kind of like a Gryffindor in that sense I guess," I pondered, kind of towards myself.  
"Don't mess with Ravenclaw chicks, man. It'll end badly, believe me."  
"What?" He looked at me imploringly.  
"She's a lot smarter than you, Pads. A lot smarter than Lily, too, probably. You mess with her, you're going to end up embarrassed, hurt, or really flipping aggravated," he said, counting them off on his fingers. I threw the towel in the laundry chute, and dried myself off with my wand quickly.  
"Don't worry about it, mate. She can't touch us. She's a nobody! She can't even sit with her own damn house," I said, laughing, and threw my arm over his shoulder. Remus shut up. I think it was mostly because he was annoyed, which he was most of the time, but we loved him anyway. I ruffled his hair and jumped on his back. It wasn't like he was struggling, the kid was a fucking monster. I guess being a werewolf could come in handy for something.  
"Get off me, you fucking idiot," he yelled, pushing me off his back forcefully.  
"You ain't never going to bring me down, Moony," I shouted from the floor, laughing my ass off as he walked away from me, shaking his head.  
Charlotte POV  
I stood in front of the mirror, while going up and down my body with my wand, making sure there were no remnants of paint left. Maybe I was going at this all wrong. I'd dealt with plenty of arseholes before, but this was not a common arsehole. He, (they I guess), thrived on retaliation and punishment. They loved to be provoked, and enjoyed being publicly punished, so others could see how very freaking wonderful and rebellious they were. The provocation only led them to retaliate, so on and so forth. I should just relax, sit back, let them be confused when I let them win, triumph. The only one who might anticipate it was Remus, but even him I'd been studying dutifully. He would not understand my tactics, as a man of action and emotion. You see, this whole thing was a simple game of math to me. For example, provocation+retaliation=satisfaction and, in turn, more provocation. The equation would repeat until one of the variables became benign. There was a flaw in this, and I anticipated it. Sometimes the benign variable could damage other things connected to the direct sum of the equation. Sirius Black was my benign variable. He would continue as long as he could, even without the retaliation variable in play. He would continue to try and damage me, try and affect my life. Maybe I would care, and maybe it would continue to eat away at me. But, like most benign variables, he would just fade away, becoming completely inconsequential to the grand scheme of things. He, they, would find another person to retaliate. That variable would believe he or she was the imaginary number. The one thing that was the flaw in the equation. They would make it work. They would regain victory, and show them who was the best. But that simply wasn't probable. And in life, everything's easier as a probability.


End file.
